Pakistan take honours on day one

News

Cricket365
October 26, 2011

Sri Lanka's choice to bat first backfired as they fell to 239 all out on day one of the second Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Wednesday.

Their total could have been considerably worse were it not for Chanaka Welegedera's defiance down the order, but ultimately the visitors would have wanted a great deal more runs after winning the toss and opting to bat first.

Welegedera, with fellow tail-ender Rangana Herath (29) along for the ride, ensured a recovery from 154 to eight en route to his highest Test score of 48 before Saeed Ajmal (three for 45) took his cue to end the rearguard act late in the day.

A pitch that was expected to prove flat instead offered plenty of zip off the seam and turn from the deck, with Umar Gul and Junaid Khan cashing in initially before the spinners took over.

Gul did the initial damage, reducing the Sri Lankans to 30 for three inside the first nine overs. Tharanga Paranvitana and Mahela Jayawardene both fell to flimsy shots outside the off-stump for catches to the slip cordon, while Lahiru Thirimanne and his lack of footwork were a plumb candidate for lbw.

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara looked to orchestrate a fightback, but their collective hope was quickly undone by the captain's rash shot selection, with Misbah-ul-Haq gifted his third catch behind the stumps as Khan struck for the first time.

The seamer enjoyed a second scalp shortly before lunch. Angelo Mathews, also prone to shaky drives and front-foot prods, succeeded only in feathering a glance to wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal.

Sangakkara found brief support alongside debutant Kaushal Silva after the break. The veteran and rookie put on 54 for the sixth wicket until the diminutive wicketkeeper-batsman missed a straightforward sweep to perish lbw for 20.

Dhammika Prasad had no clue in the face of an Ajmal doosra and, running out of partners, Sangakkara opted to chase boundaries. His crusade, however, was short-lived as Asad Shafiq pouched an easy catch at long-on to have the in-form left-hander out for 78 and give Abdur Rehman his second victim.

Pakistan made one change to their starting XI, replacing fast bowler Aizaz Cheema with spinner Rehman.

The Sri Lankans drafted in Prasad ahead of fellow seamer Nuwan Pradeep. Wicketkeeper-batsman Prasanna Jayawardene was ruled out of the match with a groin injury.

Pakistan promptly knocked off 42 runs without loss in reply thanks to the reslience of Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Hafeez in dying light.